Fire extinguisher



Se t. 20, 1966 G. A. NEUMANN FIRE EXTINGUISHER Filed July 20. 1964 INVENTOR GER/1A RDT 4. Nil/MANN ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,273,652 FIRE EXTINGUISHER Gerhardt A. Neumann, Minneapolis, Minn., assignor to G. D. Searle & Co., Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Delaware Filed July 20, 1964, Ser. No. 383,832 1 Claim. (Cl. 16930) in principle to the closure of a mail box or the like. The 7 cash, checks, currency, and the like are normally tied in bundles or wrapped in any suitable manner and inserted into the depository together with a deposit slip. The depository is opened during banking hours and the contents removed and itemized in the usual manner.

From time to time fires have occurred in these depositories, the fires usually being maliciously started by dropping ignited Llooks or boxes of matches or similar inflammable materials in the depository. Fires of this type cause the banking institution terrific cost and embarrassment, particularly when there has been heavy deposits as over a weekend or the like. In one such fire, the heat developed was sulfic-ient to burn the paper money, checks, and deposit slips beyond recognition and even to melt some of the cash. When such a fire occurs, the bank must to a great extent rely on the honesty of the patrons to determine the amount of loss. If one of the bank customers deposited an unusually large amount over the weekend, he is naturally subject to suspicion when the loss is reported. Accordingly, it is extremely important that any fire which starts in such a location be extinguished as quickly as possible.

Springler systems have been used in locations of this type, but such systems are not particularly successful because of the papers involved. Thus it is desirable to provide an automatic fire extinguisher which may be set off quickly upon a sudden rise in temperature, and which will cause a minimum of damage to the contents of the depository.

It .is an object of the present invention to provide a portable fire extinguisher which may be installed in a depository by simply inserting one or more of the extinguishers in the depository. The extinguisher comprises a pressurized chamber including a dry powder capable of extinguishing Class A, Class B, and Class C fires. The chamber is provided with a fusible head similar to that used in an automatic sprinkling system. Accord ingly, in the event the temperature within the depository reaches an above normal temperature as for example, one hundred thirty-five degrees Fahrenheit, the fusible head will fuse and the pressure within the pressure chamber will force the dry powder throughout the depository. Tests have shown that fires started in such locations may be extinguished in as little as ten seconds.

The size of the extinguisher used may be varied depending upon the volume of the depository chamber. If the depository is of relatively large size, often the use of two smaller extinguishers will be found preferable to one larger one, as the two smaller extinguishers may be located so that one may be set oif prior to the other, and may be affected more quickly by the heat if the fire starts nearer one extinguisher than the other.

These and other objects and novel features of the 3,273,652 Patented Sept. 20, 1966 ice present invention will be more clearly and fully set forth in the following specification and claim:

In the drawings forming a part of the specification;

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view of a typical extinguisher, showing the general construction thereof.

FIGURE 2 is a diagrammatic view of a depository of the type which has been described.

The extinguisher illustrated in general by the letter A and is shown as comprising a normally portable metal enclosure 10 comprising a tank capable of withstanding considerable internal pressure. The tank 10 is shown as having a rounded upper end 11 and a rounded inwardly extending lower end 12. The tank is provided with a valve 13 through which gas under pressure may be inserted into the tank. The tank is also usually provided with a pressure gauge 14 which will show the pressure existing within the tank.

The upper end 11 of the tank 10 is provided with an internally threaded socket 15 to which is secured a siphon tube 16 extending to a point adjoining the lower end of the tank 10. A sprinkler head 17 is secured in the socket 15. The sprinkler head 17 includes a plug 19 which closes the upper end of the socket communicating with the siphon tube 16. The cap is held in place by a fusable element 20 which melts at a predetermined temperature such as, for example, F. The top of the sprinkler head is provided with a deflector 21 which tends to deflect the major portion of the powder in a downward direction. The interior of the tank is maintained at a pressure sutficiently high to force the major portion of the powder through the siphon tube 16 upon the melting of the fusible element 20.

FIGURE 2 diagrammatically illustrates a depository chamber 22 which may be constructed in a manner simi lar to an ofiice safe or the like. The chamber 22 is shown as having a top wall 23, a bottom wall 24, a rear wall 25 and side walls such as 26. A door 27 is hingedly mounted to close the front of the body, and the door is normally locked by a burglar-proof lock such as is indicated diagrammatically at 29.

The chamber 22 is mounted in any suitable location, such as adjoining an outer wall 30 of the banking establishment. A rotor 31 is pivotally supported about a horizontal axis 32 in a suitable enclosure 33, the enclosure being connected by a chute 34 to the interior of the depository chamber 22. The rotor 31 is provided with a pocket 35 designed to receive checks, bundles of ourrency, cash and the like. The pocket 35 may be rotated from a position in which it will receive the currency and the like into registry with the chute 34 so that the material can be deposited into the chamber 22 without providing a direct open communication. One or more of the fire extinguishers A are positioned in the depository chamber 22.

In the event of a vandal attempting to start a fire within the depository, in any manner such as by dropping an ignited box of matches into the depository or by any other means, the heat created quickly raises the temperature of the ambient air to the degree necessary to melt the fusible element 20. At this point, the pressure within the extinguisher quickly forces the powder from the extinguisher A, extiguishing the fire almost before damage may be caused. As a matter of fact, the entire operation of setting 01f the extinguisher and extinguishing the fire may take as little a time as ten seconds to complete. Due to the fact that the extinguishing medium is of dry form, the extinguishing of the fire causes no permanent damage to checks or currency, and does not interfere with the legibility of the checks, deposit slips and other such papers. While it is possible that certain of the papers .tinguished before extensive damage can take place.

will start to ignite before the fire is extinguished, under normal circumstances the blaze will be extinguished be fore any appreciable amount of damage is done. In the event any of the papers are ignited, these are usually single sheets of paper, and even such sheets are normally ex- Normally deposits made in the depository are in bundles of :bills tied together, bundles of checks tied together or in 'an envelope so that the only actual damage caused is the time required to remove the dust from the papers and to refill the extinguisher.

The dry chemical which is used in the extinguisher is available from several manufacturers. For example, one such dry chemical is produced by the Fyr-Fyter Company of Newark, New Jersey, and other cities and is produced under Patent 2,866,760. The chemical is known as Formula H.

In accordance with the patent statutes, I have described the principles of construction and operation of -my improvement in fire extinguishers, and while I have endeavored to set forth the best embodiment thereof, I desire to have it understood that changes may be made within the scope of the following claim without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim: A portable readily movable fire extinguisher comprising:

and having a base portion upon which said compartment may rest in a vertical position,

a sprinkler head secured to the upper end of said compartment and supported centrally thereof,

said compartment having a rounded upper end from which said sprinkler head projects, said sprinkler head being coaxial thereto,

said sprinkler head including a closure plug and a fusible element holding said plug in compartment closing position, and

a deflector means supported above and concentric with said sprinkler head and said closure plug and operable to deflect the greater portion of the powder outwardly and downwardly over said rounded compartment end when said plug is released.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 261,461 7/1882 Johnson et al. 1692 343,637 6/1886 Johnson 10933 1,369,179 2/1921 Lee 169--26 1,371,689 3/1921 Kelly 169-26 1,811,150 6/1931 Peyton 10933 X 1,824,502 9/1931 Robinson 10946 3,039,536 6/1962 Moore et al. 16937 OTHER REFERENCES Baking Industry: Pub. June 6, 1953, p. 30.

M. HENSON WOOD, JR., Primary Examiner EVERETT W. KIRBY, J. HICKEY, R. STROBEL,

Assistant Examiners. 

